The quick answer
The first thing you should do is work out if your language school is insolvent. This means either all your assets will not cover all your liabilities in full or you are unable to pay your debts as they fall due.
If you are insolvent then you should not continue to take deposits for language courses in advance.
In more detail
Course fees
If your language school is insolvent then you may not be able to afford to continue. In these circumstances you should not take fees for courses in advance unless the funds are put into a protected separate client account – so they are not mixed into general funds or used to pay off an overdraft.
This is an issue even if students are paying by credit card or debit card.
WORK OUT YOUR ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
You should also work out what assets the school has and the likely liabilities and if this means there is a shortfall you should seek the advice of a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner like us.
One cost you need to also consider is the redundancy cost of staff if you can not continue. Schools typically have well paid, long serving employees and this can be more expensive than you think.
